By Alexander Villafania
MANDALUYONG CITY, METRO MANILA–A health expert urged the need to update the four-year-old data on the prevalence of heart disease in the country, and warned that the trend could be going upward due to the growth of the outsourcing industry.
There could be cardiovascular disease sufferers among workers of outsourcing firms in the Philippines given their odd working hours and night-shift lifestyle, said Dr. Raffy Castillo, a cardiologist for the Manila Doctor’s Hospital.
“Many (BPO) workers smoke and drink coffee a lot more and their sleeping habits are irregular. This can cause some health problems,” Castillo said.
He stressed that outsourcing organizations must also implement health projects to start to ensure the wellness of its workers.
“We can’t say how many are there now but what I can say is that there has not been any significant decline in the numbers,” according to Castillo, who was former chair of the Philippine Heart Association.
The Department of Health recorded 88,000 deaths from heart-related diseases alone for 2007, which is 5,000 higher than the previous year.
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